Annabeth's Chess 101
by legendaryhuntress
Summary: In which Annabeth Chase loses to a certain Seaweed brain who calls the bishop Mr. Pointy Head. One-shot


**Annabeth's Chess 101**

_A/N: this is set post Lightning Thief but pre-Sea of Monsters. _

It was another one of those strikingly hot summer's days that seemingly melts all the coat of zeal out of everyone, revealing the filling of laziness. The notorious drunk/camp director/Olympian god did not let pass the opportunity for a break (which involved alcoholic drinks and card games, no doubt). With this, demigods were given the rare opportunity to take a break from training, so they didn't feel the need to protest.

Percy was walking around the line of cabins, his hair still dripping wet from the beach adventure he just had with other campers. All the campers were by the beach, having activities that all suited their wants and needs. Some campers surf, swam, built sand castles, got into sumo wrestling by the shore (gee, guess which cabin is that?). Percy thought it was the perfect time for his newly formed trio to spend some time together, but sadly his blond friend refused.

"Come on, Annabeth, don't you wanna build sand castles and stuff?" Percy persuaded the aspiring architect.

"Well, the Athena Cabin's been wanting a chess tournament for _years_! We never had the free time to do so, so this is the _perfect_ chance," was what the blonde replied, her grey eyes twinkling with zeal.

Well, as Percy passed the Cabin of the Wisdom Goddess, the hustle and bustle of the held chess tournament seemed to have died down as the afternoon waned. Annabeth was all alone on a picnic table in front of the cabin where the tournament was held. She seemed like she was in a _very_ bad mood. There was a set-up chess game in front of her, and she seemed to be manipulating both pieces of white and black. _She is a weird one,_ Percy thought.

"Hey, Annabeth. Are you sulking because you lost?" Percy sat opposite her, teasing her with a grin.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain. And what happened to you? Did Apollo decide to turn you into baked tuna?" Annabeth snapped at him, still not losing concentration over the chess game she had against herself. Percy inwardly cussed, seemingly noticing for the first time his sunburn.

"For your information, _I_ won the whole thing," Annabeth stated haughtily.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Then why do you seem so low?"

"Because it just seemed way too easy. I defeated everyone way too fast. I wasn't even challenged," Annabeth sighed with defeat in her tone.

"Gee, you always _were_ a humble one," Percy groaned sarcastically. "Anyways, what's so great about chess anyways? It only seems cool in Harry Potter."

Annabeth gave him an annoyed look, but to be honest, she wasn't at all surprised at his ignorance. Chess was a game that took utmost concentration, wit, tactics and brain power. The mentioned just weren't the boy's fortes.

"Well, the cabin's not wealthy enough to afford moving chess pieces at the moment, Captain Brains," Annabeth rolled her eyes, but sadly her jab didn't take the effect she wanted.

"Really, that exists?" Percy's eyes widened his lips curved into a big goofy smile. This made Annabeth roll her eyes and give him the _'are you seriously stupid?'_ look. This made him frown.

"Sorry, after everything that's happened lately I'm willing to believe _anything_."

"It's a _sport_ Percy. I know it's unlike the sports you like, like basketball and baseball the like. It's not just about moving a bunch of wooden pieces. It happens to be very difficult, especially when you're faced with a highly skilled and intelligent opponent," Annabeth sighed, "but sadly, even among the children of Athena, none of them could be a match against me."

Annabeth moved a strange looking piece at the next block.

"Why'd you move that?"

"It's a diversionary tactic," Annabeth explained.

"Why?"

"Percy, do you know how to play chess _at all_?" Annabeth groaned, her patience obviously waning. The boy just shook his head, making her sigh.

"The technicals are pretty simple," Annabeth said, and she started explaining all the purposes and possible moves of each chess piece. Time seemed to lapse way too slowly, and Annabeth's voice became an endless drone of babble halfway through, making Percy's attention dwindle. His eyes darted towards the falling leaves and the singing birds, away from the murder that was Annabeth's chess 101. By the time Percy's eyes went back to her, he noticed the pieces all arranged neatly on the board.

"Come one Perce, move a piece," Annabeth broke the silence.

"Oh, oooh, right," with shaky, sweaty hands, Percy set his fingers on a pawn, ready to move it. But he wavered, and looked for approval in his friend's eyes.

"Go on," Annabeth coaxed. And so he did, and moved the pawn five paces from where it originally was. Time passed, and soon the two got lost in arrays of different moves and loss of different pieces. Annabeth was noticing how tricky things were getting, because if even if she ate a lot of Percy's pieces, he kept getting hers as well, one after another.

Then something had happened that changed Annabeth's life forever.

"Hey, this piece can take the king. It's checkmate, right?" Percy muttered, obviously bored.

Annabeth blinked. And blinked. And blinked again. She decided to rub her eyes to confirm what was right in front of her. Her black king was trapped with nowhere to turn to for safety. No matter which way her king went, one of Percy's pieces were there to get her.

"No way," Annabeth muttered in disbelief.

"What does checkmate mean again?"

"This can't be real!"

"Annabeth!"

"I WANT A REMATCH!" Annabeth screamed at his face.

"Whoa, whoa," Percy patted Annabeth on the shoulder. "Whatever it is, you don't have to be so mad. Besides, chess is sooooo boring. You can go back to playing all by yourself now."

"No way," Annabeth stood up, crossed her arms and huffed. "You won. And not only that, you won against me! Me, who defeated every single one the Athena Cabin. I lost. And I lost to a loser who just learned how to play chess for the very first time!"

Annabeth lifted her head up to the heavens. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Wow," Percy rolled her eyes. "It's nice to know how highly you think of me."

"Anyways, we're going to have a rematch whether you like it or not, and that's that!"

…

The day droned on. And on. Until the sun sank beneath the waves and Percy started wondering why on earth he became friends with the prideful demigod. They've been playing for hours, and Annabeth still hasn't won a single game, and she wouldn't let him go until she won one.

"Checkmate," Percy sighed as moved his piece while hovering his other hand over his rumbling stomach. And again, he couldn't do anything when Annabeth demanded another rematch.

Dinner came and went, and the two missed it.

"Checkmate, again. How many games was it? I've lost count," Percy grumbled as he looked up at the sky, seeing the starts tease him about the dinner he missed. He could hear the campers singing as loudly as they can over at the campfire. "Can we stop now? Please, I'm hungry and sleepy."

"But I refuse to lose to someone who calls the bishop Mr. Pointy-head!" Annabeth yelled. Stress was written all over her face – she had shadows under her eyes and her hair was unkept.

"Which one is the bishop?" Percy asked innocently.

"MR. POINTY-HEAD!" Annabeth exploded.

"See?" Percy laughed, "it's catching on."

Annabeth groaned, but she started rearranging the pieces back to starting position. And the games went on.. and on.. and on.. until..

"Checkmate." This time, it was Annabeth who was able to utter these words. She beamed in amazement and satisfaction. "I won."

"Oh, wow, that's so great, Annabeth, really," Percy stood up and started walking away from her as fast as he could, "well, whataya know it's late gotta go the Harpies would be here soon see yah goodnight!"

"Whoa, wait a second," Annabeth stood up and tapped a finger on her chin, the way she usually does when she's thinking. This made Percy stop dead in his tracks. "You lost on purpose didn't you? All to stop the game, and to stop us from playing."

"That's absolutely ridiculous, Annabeth. Really."

"Rematch."

"No."

"Rematch"

Percy started marching towards his cabin, with Annabeth tailing him. And considering their stubbornness, who knew how long this went on..

**The End**

_A/N: I can't take credit for everything. The characters belong to RR of course, and the idea came from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody._

_So.. R,R and R!_

_Love,_

_Legendaryhuntress_

_xoxo_


End file.
